Bill and Paul Votsaris and their team are the driving force behind the inspirational and community focused projects.

When Bill and his family moved to the Bellarine in the early 2000’s, after being long-time holiday makers to the area, he noticed a clear gap in the commercial property market, in particular around central Geelong, where the need for improvement and positive focus was quite extensive. A largely untouched, and unloved space with so much untapped potential, all within such close proximity to Melbourne and the coast, he felt it was the prime location to create a hub where small businesses could follow their passions, locals could frequent, and visitors could find a place to unwind and enjoy a range of experiences.

Despite facing challenges along the way, Bill, along with his son Paul and their exceptional team, persisted with their passion and forged ahead to make their dream, and ultimately the dream of many others, a reality, and create what we have come to know as The West End Precinct.

When speaking with Bill and his team, their passion is palpable, and you can truly feel the energy and enthusiasm they share for the improvement of the Geelong CBD, highlighting everything it has to offer, and creating more opportunities for it to develop and thrive.

Their ultimate goal was to build on their vision in delivering an end result that the community not only supports, but also greatly benefits from, as well as providing a gateway for future projects to expand on the growth of the area, bringing people from all over the world to our region, to explore and discover everything we have to offer and making it a top, must-visit destination.

Since the conception of the precinct, statistics show that there has been a large increase in people frequenting and accessing the local businesses and spending more time within the centre of town. There has also been a very positive side-effect of a safer and more connected community, where people feel more comfortable going out day or night, to enjoy themselves amidst a flurry of activity that simply wasn’t there before.

While Bill and his team are very proud of their efforts in the creation of the Precinct, and their on-going hard work, he emphasises that none of it would have been possible without the incredible frontline business owners, who have worked tirelessly to embrace the project, and build their businesses around the collective idea to create a consistently positive, vibrant experience for patrons. It is a combined effort with everyone involved, and a continued partnership, where everybody has a voice and works towards a common goal and a united vision.